CHILE RELLENOS ... NOT From the Freezer!

If you want to enjoy real rellenos, read on. If you want those strange things all battered up with thick stuff, not sure what, go to your favorite "Mexican" restaurant or the freezer section in the grocery store. I tried one of those and went back to the ones that I grew up eating with my mom ... well, kind of, I can't seem to leave anything alone!

Start with fresh green chiles, and roast them.

1. I usually roast them in the broiler of the oven, 2. When I have a whole bunch of them, I use the BBQ grill. 3. Put them in a zip-lock bag and let them steam.

4. When the chiles get cool enough, it is time to peel them. Just find a place that the skin is loose and start peeling it way from the flesh part of the chile. Oops! Missed a step! Grab the step at the widest part of the stem and pull off. It will bring the seeds out with it. 5. To make the rellenos, beat an egg, season with salt, onion, garlic powder and sometimes red chile powder. Growing up we just used a little salt. If you want to get really wild, you can used Mexican or taco seasoning. Stir this up with a fork or whisk. That is a little buttermilk that I add now to make it a little more fluffy. 6.Time to stuff those little buggers! Cut strips of cheese, push one down into each chile pepper pocket.

7. When you get them all stuffed, dip into the egg mixture. 8. Lay them in a greased or buttered pan set on low to medium low. 9. Cover with a lid and check them every couple of minutes.

10. When the egg is starting to look it is setting up, it is time to turn them. 11. It is usually hard to turn them all at once unless it is just a couple in a small skillet. 12. Time to eat up! these are great with a wonderful salad. Topping off with salsa is also yummy.

WONDER BOX COOK TIMES

Just ran across this article on the internet. Click HERE to enjoy the info. I appreciated the time table that I did go ahead and pasted below.

Storing Lettuce . . . . Without the Slime! and Mushrooms

I just ran across this tip and personally, I am kind of excited! It all makes sense to me. To check it out click HERE.

When I bring home fresh mushrooms, I always peel the cellophane back and lay a folded paper towel over

the top to absorb the moisture. Then I stretch the cover back over it and punch a few small holes in the cellophane to let the mushrooms "breath". If the towel gets too wet, I change it out. I lay the first one to the side to use for wiping out cast iron skillet or if it is a big carton of mushrooms from Costco, I might have to rotate the paper towels again before I use them all up.

Yes, I can be major cheapskate, gotta love it!

WONDER BOX . . . . BAKED CHICKEN

First I will refer you to an old post to see how to use the Wonder Box for baking in a roasting bag. Click HERE.

For cooking the whole chicken:

1. Place the thawed chicken in a hot water for a few minutes to take the chill out of the meat. Skin the bird, slow baked skin just sounds gross! It may have held the seasonings better, and could be pulled off after baking, but doing it first disposed of a lot of fat to begin with.
2. I finely chopped:

• fresh 2 Tb. rosemary
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 med. onion
• 1 t. salt & pepper to taste

3. Mix seasonings with 1/3 c. softened butter

4. Rub into chicken after frying off with paper towel.

5. Fill cavity with rest of onion.

6. Place in the roasting bag and squeeze out most of the air.

7. Place in the pot with the top edges hanging over the edge of pot.

8. Fill pot with water allowing it to cover the chicken in the bag. Don't let any water get into the bag.

9. Heat the covered pot until boiling, and keep at a boil for 15 minutes. Get Wonder Box ready while you wait.

10. I left it undisturbed for 7 hours. When I opened it up, the breast was at 152 degrees.

1. The chicken after I opened the bag. 2. I checked for redness next to the breast bone. the chicken was cooked through, but not dry! 3. I drained the juices out of the roasting bag and made wonderful gravy for the baked potatoes.

NOTE: I didn't lay a towel over the wonder box like I usually do and have a small mess to deal with. I usually get a similar sized pot to make the hole in the bottom of the box and have it ready to place the food very quickly to reserve the heat.

CHAMPIONSHIP DUTCH OVEN COOKING--by Terry and Tori Lewis

I just ran into this great collection of dutch oven cooking that I think is well worth checking out. Check it out HERE. You'll be glad you did!

This is a great method of cooking in an emergency because of a power outage, when you are camping or just for fun. We used to do it a lot when our kids were younger for "Pioneer Week" as celebration of our heritage around Pioneer Day. We all had a lot of fun with it.

I have used some of my favorite dutch oven recipes by cooking them in my propane BBQ grill. If you don't have any briquettes but do have wood, you can also create the coals by burning it the wood and banking the coals.

Confessions . . . of a Tired Ole Grandma

EASY CLEAN OVEN

Friday, I decided to clean my oven, even I can only take so much smoke. Now don't be too shocked, I am showing my oven. Just like on the BBQ and stove top, I seem to find a way to boil over, spill and produce my "home cooked" smoke where ever I cook. Mariah gave me teflon oven liner a couple of years ago and does it ever save me time.

It took five minutes to remove that and get the shiny oven using just that little green scrubby pad and dish soap. No fumes from spraying or when I turned the oven the next time. The liner also took about five minutes to clean. I love it!

I have a self-cleaning oven . . . hate the heat, hate the smoke and scared of that high of a temperature inside my home. I had an oven missing insulation once and that one would have started a fire if I had run it in the cleaning mode!

These teflon liners are found at Bed, Bath & Beyond for about $10.00. Don't forget to take in a 2o% off coupon! they are so worth the investment!

GARLIC

I was taking some garlic out of the freezer the other day and wondered if I was the last one to discover this. When you put the whole bulb of garlic in a plastic bag, into the freezer, it makes cooking with it quick and easy.

Take out the number of cloves you need about 5 minutes before to thaw. Just slip the skins off and mince or smash, whatever form you need.

I have quit buying the minced in the jar . . . a lazy little habit I developed a few years ago.

LETTUCE WRAPS

This recipe is from the website: recipezaar.com

Chicken Lettuce Wraps Like Pf Changs - Copycat Recipe #178146

I LOVE PF Changs Lettuce Wraps, but we live a long distance from the nearest of their restaurants. When I start craving their lettuce wraps, I make this copycat recipe, and my husband says they are even better than Changs. You be the judge. They are a little work, but well worth the effort.

by BamaKathy

45 min | 30 min prep

SERVES 6

• 8 dried shiitake mushrooms or fresh shiitake mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons dry sherry
• 2 teaspoons water
• salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 lbs ground chicken
• 5 tablespoons oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 green onions, minced
• 2 small dried chilies (optional)
• 1 (8 ounce) can bamboo shoots, minced
• 1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, minced
• 1 (2 ounce) package cellophane noodles, prepared according to package

Cooking Sauce

• 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dry sherry
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 12 leaves iceberg lettuce, cups

1. (If you used dried mushrooms, cover mushrooms with boiling water, let stand 30 minutes then drain.) Cut and discard woody stems from mushrooms. Mince mushrooms. Set aside.
2. Mix all ingredients for cooking sauce in bowl, and set aside.
3. In medium bowl, combine cornstarch, sherry water, soy sauce, salt, pepper, and chicken. Stir to coat chicken thoroughly. Stir in 1 teaspoons oil and let sit 15 minutes to marinate.
4. Heat wok or large skillet over medium high heat. Add 3 TBSP oil, then add chicken and stir fry for about 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
5. Add 2 TBSP oil to pan. Add ginger, garlic, chilies(if desired. I leave these out), and onion; stir fry about a minute or so.
6. Add mushrooms, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts; stir fry an additional 2 minutes.
7. Return chicken to pan. Add mixed cooking sauce to pan. Cook until thickened and hot. Break cooked cellophane noodles into small pieces, and cover bottom of serving dish with them. Then pour chicken mixture on top of noodles. Spoon into lettuce leaf and roll.

My personal "Healthier Version"

• The first thing I do is get the core out of the head of lettuce by grabbing with both hands, with the core side down. Bring it down hard against something like the counter or a solid table. The core should lift right out for you.
• Next, put into a deep bowl, run cool water into the head itself until the bowl is full and water covers the whole head. I throw in some ice cubes to make it nice and cold to crisp the lettuce better. Set that aside and start chopping!
• I started making these when I was losing weight and realized that veggies are really good in them. Today I used: red peppers, mushrooms, cabbage, carrots, celery, onion, zucchini, minced garlic, water chestnuts, a small amount of cooked rice and chicken.
• Dice all of it very small, 1/4 inch at the largest. Use the food processor if needed.
• **Stir fry all of the ingredients starting with the meat. As soon as it is cooking, start adding the veggies starting with the veggies that take longer to cook. I do this when stir frying anything so that it can all come out with some crunch left in the veggies.
• This will not take long so have your soy sauce ready to sprinkle in just before you take it off the heat. I use low salt soy sauce so that I can have more of the flavor without so much salt. There are also teriyaki sauces that would be good if you like that flavor combination. Some times when it is just me home, I have been known to add a little sweet & sour sauce to make it zingggg!

When the filling is ready, pull the head of lettuce in half starting at the hole where the core used to be.

• Scoop some filling up in a spoon and spread on your leaf ( I often double the leaves for more crunch)
• Roll it up and enjoy!!

Other Ideas:

• I use many different ingredients:
• Just about any vegetable can go into it.
• Besides chicken, I have also used beef, pork, chopped and ground.
• Instead of rice, I have used different Asian noodles, chopped up into small pieces.
• Try nuts chopped up in your food processor! If you like cashew chicken try that in the wrap form, peanuts and almonds are also yummy.

STIR FRYING:

If you have never stir fried, don't be afraid to try it! It isn't that hard and you will be surprised at how much you love it. I even do an Italian type stir fry that we put over the pasta with a light sauce drizzled over the top!

• A wok is nice, but the most important thing is that it is a heavier weight. I use my cast iron skillet quite often.
• The next thing is that, if you use an oil that has a higher smoking point, it will be a lot easier. I use peanut oil a lot. A little sesame oil added to the oil will give it a wonderful nutty flavor. When I am not going so Asian, like when I do the Italian stir fry, I use vergin olive oil. If you want heart healthy, use olive oil all the time. You do need to use high temperature to get the stir fry "yumminess" .
• Chop all of your ingredients
• Heat pan, add oil.
• When a piece of meat sizzles when it is put into the pan, go ahead nad add the rest of the meat. Stir constantly using a large shallow spoon, scoop or spatula. This is called stir fry and the difference is that the food is on the move in your pan all the time.
• When the meat looks about half done, start piling the vegetables in, starting with the ones that take longer to cook, such as carrots, broccoli, cauliflower.

I hope this make sense. If it doesn't, feel free to ask questions, I won't be offended and my "editor" (daughter) is kind of busy these days.

This post is very long, so I will post the one using dehydrated foods in a couple of days! Guess the chille rellenos will have to wait until tomorrow, life still goes on!